I doubt it is the end, and would love to see some improved changes come in - but as has already been pointed out to me, I was optimistic during the last changeover, and we all saw how well that worked out. As I don't interact with any of the other means right now, flickr is my default for photo sharing, and I still just appreciate it for what it is; there is more than enough rough (I think) to cater to people who appreciate different photography, than just the social media/insta-sharing side of things, which is never what flickr was about. Worst case is a kill-off, but I can't really see that happening given it was a direct purchase; but a close second would be to try and force it to fit one of these other models. That would really be the final nail in the coffin I think. Right now, it still manages to fill the niche it has a hold on, and should (ideally) focus more on that. I don't know what Smugmug's business plan/model is, but - in spite of the terrible name - it has actually been around for a long time, well before the recent social media upstart trend, so there could be some basis for traditional innovation there, rather than pure millennial market-share chasing. In any case, seeing the damage that has been done to this board already in historical posts (so many dead links and toy information lost), I dread what any major changes in linked sites like this might bring, or whether more people shut down and pull out. They certainly haven't treated their users well at all thus far.

I am actually getting more curious about the changes and how it might affect historical links. According to their user service email, "all Flickr data will be transferred to SmugMug." While one interpretation of this might be that they are taking 'ownership' of all of the content within Flickr, hence asking users to download any content and close accounts if this is not desired, it could also be possible that they will be somehow integrating whatever your flickr account is in its current state to some new iteration via the SmugMug format. Given the number of users, and the amount of content, still housed on flickr, I can't really see them not making it backwards compatible to previously shared information, but I also wouldn't take anything for granted.

Ugh...would suck if they killed it or changed it too much...photobucket already has 100's of my photos held hostage. I don't see how requiring customers send them money to free their photos could have been a good business decision.

I'm gonna hope for a changeover in name and ownership that goes largely unnoticed to the user, and won't fret about it in the meantime.

Yahoo took over a perfectly good community-driven website and added advertising. Making millions off the back of other people's work. They messed around with the interface constantly, making it a lot worse. When they finally admit to themselves that maintaining it was way harder than they expected (and they were actually quite bad at it) they flog it off and do a runner. All that bullshit during the change over we had to wade through last time and now will most likely have to wade through it all again.

I'm on the verge of taking my collection photos off-line. It was fun, but maybe i should put my time and energy into something that benefits me and not faceless corporate business wankers. Anything good online that makes money always ends up fucked.

I am nervous about this as everyone as I came back to Flickr in 2016. But in retrospect another photo site is handling this latest transition unlike when Yahoo took over and messed up an already functional and simple platform to try to monetize the shit out of it. If Verizon kept Flickr I would be more nervous as who knows what direction Verizon would have taken the platform. So I am cautiously optimistic.

I use Flickr for catalog purposes but if the changes are beyond what I can stomach I can bring it back to ipernity which, surprisingly, is managing to survive. If that fails, then an occasional post to instagram, which in some ways I find unacceptable as the format is very limited and if that is my only option, I can take our collection offline since I already have the foundation for the database I have been patiently building since 2006.

I don't boast it is of utmost interest, but if you want to have a last look at my gallery, now is the time.
I will remove all content by the end of the week.
Not so many pics, but it kind of reflected how my collection evolved since I opened my account in 2009.
I did not shoot anything for some time and was warming up again. I guess I'll keep those for myself now...

p.s. Just got a Flickr email that explained that all content will be transferred to SmugMug (what a name!) and governed by it's rules unless you take down your existing Flickr content. So that explains that!

I'm sorry about that. I always felt that everybody's contribution, as little as it was helped to the uncover the riches of this deep hobby.
Unfortunately, I've always had a free flickr account and in no way am I going to pay anything to Smuggler Mug. I've looked at the site and they do not offer a free service.
I know it's not with my pics they're going to do any money, but it's a principle I don't condone.

I think this will definitively break all the links here unfortunately...

You all have amazing collections on flickr too and I can't imagine what it will do when users with very big accounts will stop using the service (Moog ?). The board will indeed become a full text ressource only...

I will try to find a way to post them somewhere else, but it will not mend any former links...

Absolutely nothing. Flickr and SmugMug will continue to operate separately, just as both have been. Your SmugMug and Flickr accounts will remain separate and independent for the foreseeable future.

Both Flickr and SmugMug users will continue to log in with their current credentials and you will have the same experience you are used to. If things do change in the future for Flickr, we’ll be as transparent as possible about the process and give you as much notice as we can about the issues that will matter to you.

Will anything happen to my photos? Will they be moved?

No, you’ll still be able to access your photos as you do currently and they’ll retain the same Flickr or SmugMug URL as always. Over time, we’ll be migrating Flickr onto SmugMug’s technology infrastructure, and your Flickr photos will move as a part of this migration—but the photos themselves will remain on Flickr.

Will Flickr continue to offer a free version? Will Flickr’s price change?

Absolutely. Flickr’s free accounts are foundational to its community of influential and engaged photographers. We are not making any changes to Flickr plans or rates at this time. We’ll let Flickr Pro customers know if that changes.

Will my Flickr Pro subscription change?

Nope! You’ll remain a Flickr Pro member and continue to enjoy all the benefits of a Pro membership.

@bunnyboy
Yeah, let's hope so. I'm not going to do anything rash for now but I'm going to back up the last few months photos just in case (I've already backed up everything before that) as soon as I get a chance.

Thanks for the quote @bunnyboy
Well, let's wait a little then...
I did not find this "nothing will change" faq...
But as they can change their conditions as much as they want with the least prior notice possible, I'd rather keep my eyes opened on this nonetheless...

Yay! A reprieve! Thank you plasticXO! I still want to see the Bakura photos
At first, I thought flickr was doomed to being a paying subscription, however, the FAQ says there won't be a change, "for now"https://www.smugmug.com/together/faq